Activity modification in heat: critical assessment of guidelines across athletic, occupational, and military settings in the USA.

Exertional heat illness (EHI) risk is a serious concern among athletes, laborers, and warfighters. US Governing organizations have established various activity modification guidelines (AMGs) and other risk mitigation plans to help ensure the health and safety of their workers. The extent of metabolic heat production and heat gain that ensue from their work are the core reasons for EHI in the aforementioned population. Therefore, the major focus of AMGs in all settings is to modulate the work intensity and duration with additional modification in adjustable extrinsic risk factors (e.g., clothing, equipment) and intrinsic risk factors (e.g., heat acclimatization, fitness, hydration status). Future studies should continue to integrate more physiological (e.g., valid body fluid balance, internal body temperature) and biometeorological factors (e.g., cumulative heat stress) to the existing heat risk assessment models to reduce the assumptions and limitations in them. Future interagency collaboration to advance heat mitigation plans among physically active population is desired to maximize the existing resources and data to facilitate advancement in AMGs for environmental heat.

Sublethal Toxicity of Crude Oil Exposure in The Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, at Two Life History Stages.

The 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred during peak spawning season for many Gulf of Mexico fish and invertebrates. Early life stages of important fishery species were at risk to encounter crude oil. In this study, we investigated the effect of crude oil exposure on two life stages of the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus). We tested the effects of oil exposure on the survival and growth of larval (pelagic) and juvenile (estuarine) blue crabs as well as the effects of oil on the molt frequency of juveniles. Larval crabs exposed to crude oil showed no discernable growth or mortality differences when compared to non-exposed controls. Juvenile crabs exposed to oil also showed no differences in size but exhibited increased intermolt duration (time between molts). Our study suggests that different life-stages may respond differently when exposed to crude oil and that oil exposure negatively affects growth rate of juvenile blue crabs.